Kansas football: Jayhawks battle down to the wire, strong defensive showing doesn’t hold as Jayhawks fall 16-13 on the road to Texas Tech
Kansas football had quite a different look in Lubbock this afternoon but despite the strong defense, the Jayhawks fell short in a 16-13 loss to the Red Raiders.
A different defense was seen on the field for Kansas football today, and it came close to giving Kansas a win on the road against Texas Tech. It’s safe to say that the defense is what kept us in the game today as Kansas gave their best efforts on the road.
The Jayhawk defense came out of the gate on full cylinders with an interception from Karon Prunty. Kansas would have excellent pass coverage throughout most of the game, keeping their eyes on Red Raider’s quarterback Alan Bowman. Kansas kept Bowman to just 15 of 26 passing attempts.
The Jayhawk defense forced 3 fumbles, an interception, and held the Red Raiders to just 3 of 15 on third down. This is extremely refreshing to see, as Kansas has struggled to hold off Big 12 offenses this year. We saw some action from Nick Channel and Gavin Potter, who both posted solid tackling efforts to help hold the line.
The real story is the action we saw from freshman corner Karon Prunty, who has been a dynamic defender all season for the Jayhawks. Prunty controlled the air for the Jayhawks, causing havoc for the Red Raider’s receivers. He is going to contribute to this defense significantly in the future.
Prunty found the early interception that gave Kansas the ball back early on in the 1st quarter.
In a surprise start, Miles Kendrick was put in charge of the Jayhawk’s offense for the day. Kendrick threw for over 100 passing yards and became much more physical in the 2nd half. The Jayhawks had plenty of opportunities, most often as a result of the excellent defense that we saw on the field.
Despite suiting up, true freshman Jalon Daniels did not take a snap against the Red Raiders. This was a questionable move, considering the time he’s seen on the field this year for the Jayhawks. The offense was fairly dormant throughout the first half and after some uneasy plays from Kendrick, many of us were wondering whether or not Daniels would switch in.
A positive look for the Jayhawks’ offense was a talented freshman running back Daniel Hishaw. Hishaw rushed for 87 yards and a touchdown in the 4th quarter. He was much stronger behind the ball and gave Kansas a little bit of an edge on offense. The younger back showed a lot of grit on the field today, fighting for every inch.
Injuries plagued the Jayhawk’s roster this afternoon, but the defense was able to step up and fill in the gaps against Texas Tech, hanging in it right up until the end.
Kansas would find themselves in a tie game at 13-13 in the 4th quarter, however, Kansas couldn’t channel any offensive production in their final drives. Texas Tech would score a field goal to push them ahead before giving Kansas their last drive after another Jayhawk defensive stop.
Kendrick couldn’t capitalize on the momentum, and the Jayhawks would turn the ball over on downs to hand Texas Tech the win. As heart-wrenching as this was to see, I couldn’t help but feel better about this football team. It’s showing that there is still some life in the roster and that these younger guys want to be here.
The Jayhawks have just one more game to close out their season when Texas comes to Lawrence to close out the 2020 season for Kansas football. The Longhorns have a fast-paced offense, which will be a large step up from the challenges the Jayhawk defense faced today.